Every site I go to order a ohm meter that screws into 510 connection is SOLD OUT. So my Q is can I buy a Multimeter like from radio shack that does not have 510 threads/connection but has hand held pencil shaped detectors .... I'm probably describing wrong but you experts prolly know what I'm talking about. If you do can you just poke the positive in end of a atty, carto, tank etc.... and ground the other to device ?? or ?? how ? Thanks for taking time to help me.

If you can't wait for them to restock, you can use a simple digital multimeter from Radio Shack or Sears or Lowe's ($15-25 price range is fine) to check the resistance of any atomizer. Here's a step-by-step tutorial:

Connect the black test lead to the jack marked "Common" or "-"; connect the red test lead to the jack marked with the Ω (Ohm symbol) or letter "R" near it.

1. Turn your multimeter on and select the lowest Ohms setting, usually 200Ω.

2. Look at the display; the left side of the screen should display number 1.

3. First, test the resistance of your leads. Touch to two leads together, firmly, and wait for numbers to stabilize. On the right side of the screen, you should see a number between 0.0 and 0.4, or so. This is the resistance of your leads. Remember that number.

4. Now, to test your atty. Position your carto firmly on your desk; you don't want it to slip and slide all over the place. Touch one lead to the hole in the center of the atty and the other lead to the threads. Again read the display after the numbers have stabilized.

5. Subtract the resistance of your leads (#3) from the resistance of your atty(#4). This is the resistance of your atomizer.

This process takes some getting used to. Steady hand helps. Just keep practicing and you'll figure it out.

There are many tutorials on Youtube--watch them if you're a visual learner:

1. Make sure you never check a battery (volts, DC) with the meter set to resistance (ohms). This will damage some meters. If you blow a meter doing this, open the back panel and check the fuse, you could be lucky and it just blew the small 20mm fuse there.

2. When checking an ecig battery voltage at the atty connector (volts, DC), place the red probe on the centre pole of the connector and the black probe on the outer thread ring, then press the on/off button and take a reading. MAKE SURE you do not short out the centre pole (which is positive) to the outer thread (which is negative). This will blow some ecigs. It's very, very easy to do, especially as you need three hands for this operation.

Those are the main dangers with meters and ecigs. Don't go testing mains electricity in any way because it is not safe without some knowledge of the issues.